News

News

For people of Haitian descent living in the Dominican Republic, a recently introduced ruling brings the risk of statelessness or deportation. Lack of identity documents and difficulties in obtaining them mean that Dominicans of Haitian descent may become stateless, while Haitian immigrants are not able to obtain an immigration status because they have been unable to submit all required documentation, or have been denied regular immigration status.
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Civil society representatives from around the globe gathered in Poland from the 15-16 December at the Warsaw Dialogue for Democracy to discuss ways to reinforce the values crucial to democracy.
Under the overall heading “From Past to Future: Strengthening Democratic Values” participants considered a range of important questions from citizen oversight over elections to the role of education in democracy. There was also a workshop focusing on citizen activism in the European neighbourhood.
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An UNDEF-funded project is being launched in Algeria to help consolidate democratic values and practices among young people in the northern province of Blida, with a particular focus on the rights of women and girls. The project agreement was signed on 21 December 2016 following negotiations among all stakeholders, including Algeria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Interior, local government,.the implementing local NGO Association Djazairouna, and the UN Development Programme office in Algiers.
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Germany increased its support to the United Nations Democracy Fund in December 2016, contributing two million euro in addition to 1.5 million euro in April 2016. Germany's Ambassador to the UN, Harold Braun, handed over the contribution to UNDEF Executive Head Annika Savill on 23 December, the day before Christmas Eve. This brings to 3.5 million euro the amount Germany has disbursed to UNDEF in 2016 alone, and some 20 million euro since the Fund was created 10 years ago. more >>

As Colombia emerges from decades of conflict, the government of President Juan Manuel Santos – winner of the 2016 Nobel peace prize –- has made education is one of the three main pillars of government policy. This is essential both to make the hard-won peace sustainable, and to overcome the enormous challenge of inequality.
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The United Nations Democracy Fund invites civil society organizations to apply for project funding. Project proposals may be submitted on-line between 18 November 2016 and 18 December 2016 at www.un.org/democracyfund. You can find guidelines, FAQs and lessons learned for applicants at http://www.un.org/democracyfund/application-materials.
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An UNDEF-funded project works to mobilize rural women and youth in the Walungu territory of South Kivu, where it is estimated that about 60 per cent of rural youth and 80 per cent of rural women are illiterate.
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Allowing women to become political leaders is vital, not only to ensure a fully inclusive democracy, but so that women’s interests and concerns are represented in decision making. With the ongoing conflict in Somalia, the problem of female representation in government is not given a high priority.
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An UNDEF project, in Ukraine worked with local people to engage in democratic processes to protect their environment. The project, “Strengthening Participatory Democracy for Effective Environmental Protection in Ukraine”, was implemented by the organization Environment-People-Law. Despite facing intense political instability, such as the outbreak of a revolution in 2013 and military conflict in 2014, the project was successfully completed in January 2016. more >>

An UNDEF regional project to involve young people, especially young women in political life in Libya, Morocco and Tunisia has led to a number of the participants standing in elections for the Moroccan Parliament, including Hanane Rihab who was elected as a member of the Socialist Union for Popular Forces, coming top of the women’s list. more >>